A LARGE VILLAGE , JUST SEVEN MILES FROM BRIGHTON, AT THE GATEWAY TO THE SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK
Hassocks contains the old parishes of Clayton (meaning settlement on the clay) and Keymer (meaning cow’s pond). It is thought that metalworkers visited the area at the start of the Bronze Age in about 600 BC and remains of a Bronze Age fort can be seen at the top of Wolstonbury Hill.
The Church of St John the Baptist at Clayton has wall paintings dating from the 12th century, and the Church of St Cosmas and St Damian is one of only a few in the country dedicated to these patron saints of physicians and surgeons. The existence of a church at Keymer is noted in the Domesday Book, though the majority of the present church dates from the 1860s.
The modern village of Hassocks – the name means rough tussocks of grass – grew up around the railway station built in 1841. The station was originally called Hassocks Gate, after the tollgate which stood on the main road near Stonepound.
This story is from the August 2018 edition of Sussex Life.
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This story is from the August 2018 edition of Sussex Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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